A Fun, Easy Life
by Holyknightsteve
Summary: After being crippled at the Tower of Salvation, Zelos gives up his fortune and title to retire in Iselia. Can Colette save him and will Zelos find the "fun, easy life" he's been searching for? (side-story of "Unconditional Love) Complete!
1. Pain

A/N: This is a side-story of "Unconditional Love" (a LloydXSheena fanfic for those of you who are unfamiliar with it). In my novelization of Tales of Symphonia, instead of killing or letting Zelos live, I found an interesting median. Zelos is now crippled with a paralyzed-for-life left arm and has suffered permanent damage to both legs, making it excruciatingly painful for him to walk. He had forfeited his entire fortune and title of "Chosen" over to Seles and now lives in a sort of retirement with Colette. This story is angsty as Zelos continues to struggle with mental and physical trauma but, in the end, it will be a ZelosXColette fic. Enjoy, and don't forget to R&R!

As a note, I would suggest that you first read "Unconditional Love" to understand how Zelos became what he is now, though it is not neccessary as it is summarized in this first chapter.

Also, inner-thoughts of Zelos will be in _italics_.

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Chapter 1: Pain

_"All I want is a fun, easy life. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less!"_

These words rang through the fallen Chosen's head as he looked out the window from his chair. Children could be seen outside, playing with a ball as they laughed. Zelos closed his eyes for a moment.

_"Say what you want. It's not like you ever trusted me, anyway."_

He took his good hand and touched the shoulder of his paralyzed left arm. He could steal feel the pain of Lloyd's blade as it pierced his shoulder and cut all of the nerves leading through his arm, thus causing his state of paralysis. He moved his legs in an attempt to get more comfortable but instead felt a sharp jolt of pain come through both of his legs. He put his hand to right leg, remembering all the crushing injuries Regal and Sheena had dealt to leave his legs in the state that they are in now.

_"Of course you can trust me! We're buds, right?" _

Zelos lowered his head, looking at what he had become: a hopeless man who had lost everything. His fortune was gone, having given all of it to Seles in hopes that she would make better use of it than he ever did. To anyone who didn't know him, he appeared to be nothing more than a life-long inhabitant of Iselia. These days, he looked very much like a peasant, s, and smoke-grey porting a simplistic brown wool sweater, a pair of equally simplistic and baggy, smoke-grey pants. Instead of the fancy adventuring shoes he once wore, he know only wore a pair of brown, leather boots. The only thing that remained of his old outfit was his white headband which now had a few bloodstains on it, all of which were hidden by his unchanged hair.

_"You… you… stupid Chosen!"  
_  
That's exactly what he thought he was: a stupid Chosen. After he gained the trust of the people who called him "friend", he decided to betray his friends in hopes that they would end his miserable life. Much to his surprise, they didn't kill him. Wounded him badly, yes, but did not kill him. By sparing Zelos, it showed just how much they did care for him.

_"Can I really do this?"_

Zelos sighed heavily as he closed his eyes and thought back to that day. After turning Colette, the kind girl who was caring for him now, over to Cruxis and being defeated in battle by his friends, he thought for sure that he would die. He didn't. He remembered looking at them as they disappeared into the teleporter, wondering if anyone would come back for him. No one did however.

_"You're nothing but a weakling, Zelos."_

Those were the first and only words that came from the man that had saved him: Kratos. As Zelos' life was flashing before his eyes, Kratos had come into the tower with a group of ninjas from Mizuho. After uttering that phrase, he remembered the disappointed look in Kratos' eyes as he healed up Zelos' major injuries. As he was carried out of the tower by the ninjas, he had seen Kratos run into the teleporter… ready to save his friends.

_"You should have never been born!_"

His mother's dying words rang more true than ever as he thought about these events. Not only did he lose most if not all respect from his friends, but he was now doomed to a life of inability, forced to spend his days staring out of a window in Iselia, hopes of his physical recovery burning dimly and diminishing more and more every day. Even people that had never met him before, such as the people of Iselia, disliked him as tales of his treachery had spread across the now joined worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla. Every time he attempted to talk a walk around town with the support of a cane or crutches, kids would stop playing and adults would stop, stare, and whisper as they watched him pass.

_"It's not true, is it Zelos? Please say that it isn't!" _

Hearing this in his own mind reminded him that there was still one that called him friend. The same girl that he had turned over to Cruxis had taken him into her home as a guest and toiled without rest to make sure that he was comfortable. She was willing to do anything to help him but he couldn't understand why, considering everything that he had done to hurt her. There was still one person in this newly formed world that still believed in him.

_"Thanks Colette! Us Chosen have to stick together, right?" _

Colette: quite possibly the world's most innocent and sweet-hearted girl. She was the poster girl of what fairy-tale angels were supposed to be like. While it was true that both Zelos and Colette angels, in Zelos' mind, the two could not have been any more different. Betraying her friends for her own personal gain was certainly on the bottom of her list of things to do if not lower. She was simple minded but that only helped to enhance the aura of innocence she exuded. In addition, this helped her enjoy the simple things in life. For this reason, she could ask for nothing more than to settle down one day and start her own family in Iselia.

_"Zelos isn't like that! He was just scared!" _

That was the excuse Colette gave her friends when they found Zelos in Mizuho. It truly amazed him. Despite his betrayal and his willingness to turn over Colette, she still believed in him. Zelos knew that what he did was all part of the plan to get the Aionus the party so desperately needed. Fighting the party though, was not. Feeling that his part of the plan was fulfilled, he no longer wanted to live and hoped the party would end his life. They didn't, and, through Colette's kindness, ended up in Iselia.

_"Don't worry Zelos. I'll take care of you." _

He sobbed when he heard this inside his mind. He didn't deserve such kind treatment. Several times over the past two weeks, he thought about taking his Ether Blade which now hung uselessly on the wall along with his pieces of armor and ending his own life. Perhaps the only reason he didn't do this is because he thought it would make Colette sad for one reason or another. Why did she care so much? It just didn't make any sense to him. Of all of the girls he knew from Meltokio, not a single one would treat him this nicely. They saw only his charm and fortune. Now, here he was with nothing left but a broken body and yet… and yet this girl, Colette, was caring for him as if he was a brother… or maybe…

_"Shut up Zelos."_

He did so and continued to stare out of the window. The children that were playing outside finally caught a glimpse of him looking through the window. Just like they always did when he went for his walks, they immediately scattered, doing their best to hide from his view. Zelos hung his head in shame.

_"Zelos…"_

He told himself to be quiet.

_"Zelos…"_

He grabbed his head and shook it. "Shut up!" he yelled.

_"Zelos?"_

Zelos opened his eyes and saw a concerned Colette, standing next to his chair, a tray in her hands. She no longer wore her old outfit and instead wore a white sweater made of soft wool and a sky-blue skirt. Along with her light boots, her outfit screamed "farmer's wife".

"Are you ok, Zelos? You had me worried for a second," she said.

Zelos blinked a few times and shook his head. Was that Colette calling his name the entire time? He wasn't sure, but if it was…

"I-I'm sorry Colette. I was just… thinking," he said, fibbing as he did so.

Colette flashed her trademark, closed-eyes smile. "Hehe. That's good to hear. Are you feeling any better?"

Zelos thought for a moment. There was no need to worry her so, once again, he fibbed. "Oh… I'm feeling a little better. Uh… thanks for asking."

Colette nodded, still smiling, and set down the tray she was holding.  
"I brought you some sandwiches and a cup of hot soup. I thought you might be hungry."

Zelos looked at the tray. The food looked good, but he just wasn't hungry. He noticed that she had even put a slice of melon on the side; his favorite fruit.

Zelos nodded slowly. "Thank you Colette. It looks delicious."

Colette nodded happily. "You're welcome Zelos." She began to walk away and turned back once more. "Do you need anything else Zelos? A blanket maybe? Winter is here now, so you must be cold sitting next to that window."

Zelos stared outside once again. She was right, it was cold next to the window. He didn't care though. He didn't care about much these days… especially his own well-being.

"Just… leave me alone," he said quietly, not turning back to her.

Colette continued to smile but was obviously hurt by what he just said. She wondered if he'd even touch the food she brought him. "Oh I'm sorry Zelos. I'll check on you later. Enjoy your lunch!" She did that fake giggle of hers and walked away.

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Once she was back in the main room of her house, a tear came to her eye. She was hurt, yes, but she thought that she might just be more worried about Zelos. No one told her so personally, but everyone in the village had criticized her decision to bring Zelos to their village to live amongst them. If she wasn't such a kind person and a hero on top of that, they may have tried to stop her. As it turned out, they did nothing and put up with Zelos.

"Zelos…" she said to herself, beginning to sob. "What happened to you? Will you ever get better?"

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_"You stupid Chosen!"_

"Way to go Zelos," he told himself. "Poor girl's probably crying now because of you. She's just trying to help. If it wasn't for her, you'd be dead now and forever forgotten."

He looked back to the blade on the wall. "You'd be dead now…" he repeated. He remembered back to when he first started living in Iselia. Colette had walked in on him one day when he was holding the tip of his blade to his chest, ready to plunge it in. She had begged and pleaded with him not to do it, crying as she did so. He eventually dropped the weapon but sometimes wondered why. Was it really because of her? Or was he just weak?

He turned back to the tray of food Colette so kindly prepared for him. As before, he wasn't hungry. However, he thought that it might make Colette feel better if he ate something. He turned his chair to the table that the tray rested upon and took a bite of a sandwich as a few snowflakes fell past his window.

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Alright! Chapter 1 of the Zelos and Colette side-story is done! What did everyone think? I won't be updating this story as regularly as "Unconditional Love", but it will be updated ASAP nonetheless. Leave me some reviews, please!


	2. The Road To Recovery

A/N: Wow, the first chapter of the Zelette side-story, despite being very angsty, seemed to go over quite well. I'm surprised to say the least. Anyway, to anyone who doesn't like angst, don't worry. The worst is over now. Any angst from here on out will be relatively minimal. After all, this is a romance fic!

I think that, once it's all said and done, this story will be a mere four chapters. I'm not planning on sequels or anything, but if reviews are good… who knows?

As an additional note, I'd like to point out that the timeline of this story is such that it takes place in the space of weeks that Lloyd, Kratos, and Sheena look for the Devil Arms in "Unconditional Love".

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Chapter 2: The Road to Recovery

Zelos gently closed the door behind him as he walked out into the snowy twilight of Iselia. It was perhaps only five in the morning and light had not broken yet over the horizon. He looked upward at the stars as snow fell on his face. This was starting to become a ritual of sorts with him. Every morning, he'd wake up very early to go on a walk without Colette knowing. He'd always get home in time to make some excuse as to why he was up and about if Colette ever caught him. The last thing he wanted to do was make her worry about him.

He looked back down at the snowy roads of Iselia and sighed as he leaned on the walking stick he usually had hidden underneath his bed. He didn't exactly look forward to his walks. Not only were they very painful and tiring, but he also felt very lonely when going on one. The only reason he was even going on these walks was to keep his muscles active, thus preventing them from debilitating and turning into much. He had been doing these walks for about a week now in hopes that he would somehow get used to the constant pain he felt in his legs. So far, he had no such luck.

He straightened himself and took only a few steps forward before he heard the door behind him open. He turned around and was surprised at what he saw: Colette. She was standing there in her sky blue skirt and white wool sweater, along with earmuffs, mittens, and a scarf.

"Zelos, why didn't you tell me about these walks before?" asked Colette with a bit of concern in her voice.

If it wouldn't have been so cold, Zelos would've been sweating. "W-what? Walks? Me? Haha… ha. I just uh… came out for some fresh air." He turned around and took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He turned back to Colette. "The air during the winter is best in the morning when the air is most crisp and cold, ya know?"

Colette put her hands behind her back, smiling playfully as she did so. "Oh I see. Why do you have a walking stick then?"

"Crap," he thought to himself. "Walking stick? Nah, this is just to… uh… help prop me up. Bad legs and all."

She closed her eyes and giggled. "Gotcha. But… if you're just getting a breath of fresh air, why are you so heavily bundled up?"

"Crap again," he thought to himself. Underneath his brown sweater and smoke-grey pants were another layer of under-clothes, meant to insulate his body. Over the sweater, he wore a heavy coat and scarf but wore nothing on his hands or head except for his stained headband. "Err… don't wanna catch a cold?"

She opened her eyes and smiled sweetly at him as she rocked back and forth on her heels. By just looking at her, Zelos knew she wasn't buying his story.

He sighed and threw up his right arm which held his stick. Even if she was buying his story, there's no way he could lie to a face with a smile like that. "Ah… alright. Yes, I have been going on walks every morning. Just trying to keep my muscles active, you know? I've been doing it in the morning so no one would find out. But… by the way you talked, it sounds like you've known about this for a while now. How?"

She stopped rocking on her heels. "Easy. I saw the stick under your bed when I was cleaning earlier this week."

Zelos expected an answer like that. Underneath the bed was the only place he could hide it within the house and it turned out to be a bad spot in the end. "Well then… if you knew, why didn't you stop me?"

Colette took a few steps towards him. "Well, as long as you weren't trying to purposely hurt yourself, I didn't really see the harm. I still wish you would have told me though."

Zelos felt a sharp jolt of pain coarse through his body as he tried to shift his legs to a more comfortable position. "I just… I just didn't want you to worry about me. That's all."

Colette took a few more steps toward him. "Well then… can I come with you this time? I'm sure it's lonely out there."

Zelos raised an eyebrow in surprise. He had expected to be scolded for taking walks that he shouldn't have been, but instead found that she would not only let him go on his walk, but also wanted to join him on said walk. "Uh… sure. I'd be happy to have you come with me."

Colette smiled warmly and walked over to him. "Thank you! Let's go! This should be fun!" She grabbed his paralyzed arm and, a mere moment later, dropped it again. "Oh my! I-I-I'm so s-sorry!"

On the inside, Zelos was a bit upset with what just happened. Being reminded of the condition of his arm never brought pleasant thoughts. Despite this, he gave her a warm smile and said, "Nah, it's ok. I should've reminded you. Don't worry about it. Ready to go?"

Nodding slowly, she walked over to his other side. "I'm ready."

Walking side-by-side, the two walked down the snowy road that lead to the forest just outside of Iselia.

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"Nice little path, isn't it?" Zelos asked Colette as they walked through the twilight-lit forest. The trees caught most of the snow that was coming down, leaving only small amounts of snow to be seen falling to the ground.

She nodded her head in approval. "Mmm. I don't ever think I've been down this path before. The light from the stars reflecting off the snow makes it even prettier." She looked over at Zelos as they slowly walked. "Thank you for letting me come with you."

He couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed. She was acting like this was a great privilege to be walking with him. On the contrary, he felt that he should be the one thanking her. "Ah, it's nothing. I should be thanking you," he said. "To tell you the truth, I get really lonely on these walks. It's nice to have someone to walk and talk with."

She blushed at this. "Th-thank you. I mean… you're welcome, err…"  
Her face grew more red. She didn't know what to say.

This caused Zelos to laugh. He always thought Colette looked cute when she did that. It was then that he realized something. That had been the first time he had laughed in about a month. After all the hate he had felt towards himself during this month, the laugh felt marvelously good.

Seeing him laugh brought a great amount of warmth to Colette's heart. Not since Flanoir on the night before the battle at the Tower of Salvation had she seen him smile and laugh like that. In response, she giggled with him.

They were still laughing when they came to a side-path that lead up a hill. Zelos stopped laughing and looked upward. Colette took a few more steps before she noticed that Zelos had stopped. She turned to him.

"Hmm? Is something wrong, Zelos?" she asked sweetly.

Zelos was silent for a moment. He looked down at his legs and the walking stick he was holding. He had been able to bear the pain of walking so far and was beginning to wonder if he should take it up a notch.

"I… I think I wanna go up this hill. I bet we can see all of Iselia from up there," he said.

A look of concerned crossed Colette's features. "But Zelos, you can't-"

Zelos shook his head. "I know, but I want to try anyway." He began to walk up the hill but didn't get very far before he succumbed to his own pain and fell down. Walking on level ground was one thing. Walking on a not-well-traveled path uphill was completely different.

Colette rushed to his side and helped him back up. "Zelos, are you ok?" she asked, obviously worried.

He gritted his teeth together, frustrated with himself for not being able to do this. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. I've got to get up there though." He began to struggle upward again. "I'll never forgive myself if I don't." He then fell down again, face-first in the snow, and pounded the ground in frustration.

Colette came to his side again, helped him up, and picked up his stick. "Then we'll do it together."

Zelos didn't protest. "Alright, Colette. Thank you."

She closed her eyes and smiled sweetly at him as she giggled. "Let's go then! Nice and easy!" The two then began their relatively long ascent to the top of the hill.

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"Come on Zelos! We're almost there!" said Colette to Zelos as the two struggled to make the final steps back to level ground on the top of the hill.

Zelos was grunting in pain as cold beads of sweat dripped down his forehead. He was in an excruciating amount of pain, but he wanted to get to the top, no matter what.

Finally, those last steps came. Once they were at the top, Zelos let himself fall to the ground, not giving Colette a chance to catch him. "Whew… I… we did it." He began breathing very deeply as he lifted his face out of the snow.

Colette kneeled down next to him and waited until he was ready to move again. Once he was, she helped him up and helped him over to a large, relatively flat rock near the edge of the cliff overlooking the village. She sat him down and, once sure that he was comfortable, she sat down next to him. The first rays of sunlight began to peek over the horizon, creating a beautiful mix of blue and orange hues in the cold, morning sky.

"Wow Zelos, you were right!" said Colette excitedly. "It's beautiful up here! You can see the entire village from up here!"

Zelos smiled. "Heh… looks like I was right." He pointed towards a certain building in the village. "Look, there's our… your… house."

Zelos felt strangely awkward when he said that. Why shouldn't he? He felt that he was only a guest in her house, but wasn't sure whether to call it her house or their house. He looked down for a moment, trying to think of something to say.

Colette smiled and put her hand on top of his extended one. "_Our_ house. You can stay for as long as you want. You're more than just a guest."

"_Our_ house," he repeated to himself in his mind. He turned this over and over in his head, trying to digest it. It had a certain meaning to him that filled him with great warmth and happiness. "More than just a guest…" Hearing this made him feel like he was truly wanted. Sure, maybe no one else in the village cared for him… but at least Colette did. In the end, that was all that mattered to him.

He moved his hand and grasped hers gently and took a deep breath. "Colette, I want to thank you."

Colette turned to him, still smiling. "What for?"

That smile melted his heart. Whenever she smiled like that, he felt like he could tell her anything. "I wanted to thank you for taking me into your home."

Colette looked as if she was going to say something but Zelos quickly interrupted her. "I know no one else in the village likes me and I'm sure they think that your decision was wrong. But you took me in anyway. Can I ask why? I mean… after all the things I've said and done, I… I…" He then began to sob. "I… don't deserve this good of treatment! Please! Tell me why!"

Colette could feel her heart break when she saw Zelos break down. She didn't lose her smile even when she began to cry herself as well. She was happy that Zelos was finally able to open up to her. At the same time, however, she was upset with the way Zelos was thinking. She turned to him and said, "Don't say that Zelos! What happened at the tower… you were just… scared. That's all! Everyone gets scared Zelos. No one is perfect!" She wiped a few tears from her eyes. "And I forgive you for that Zelos. You still are and will always be my friend. That being said, I'm going to do everything in my power to help you!"

Zelos stopped sobbing and looked into her eyes. They looked hurt but appeared to be full of determination. Just by looking in her eyes, he could tell that she was one-hundred percent sincere if not more. Tears still in his eyes, he smiled again at her. "Thank you Colette. I-I'm sorry. You're so sweet to me."

She gave that sweet smile once more and looked back at the village, still holding Zelos' hand. "Let's enjoy the view. We can watch the sunrise."

Zelos nodded and looked out on the village. The sun finally began to break over the horizon, creating a dazzling array of orange hues in the slowly brightening sky. As the two looked on, Colette slowly leaned over and rested her head on Zelos' shoulder.

"Can we stay like this for a while?" she asked.

Without looking, Zelos replied, "As long as you want, Colette."

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Chapter 2 is done! Whew! Anyway, please leave me some reviews! I'll begin work on chapter 3 within a week. In the meantime, I need to write the next chapter of "Unconditional Love." Stay tuned!


	3. Broken Hero

A/N: I've decided to pick up the pace on finishing this little side-story by posting this chapter a little sooner than I had expected. After this, there will be one more chapter and perhaps a songfic for a fifth chapter of sorts. Then I can focus my complete attention on "Unconditional Love". I've got so many ideas for new stories that it's driving me nuts!

Oh, and I apologize for not answering the question to me posted by Lloyd (Irving) Aurion concerning the possible healing of Zelos. I'll answer that by saying there will be a healing of sorts. The damage is more or less permanent, yes, but, in this chapter and the next, Zelos will reveal a way to help ease the pain. Might not be the best idea ever, but I hope it'll suffice. As any of you have probably already figured out by now, I'm not big on scientifically technical details. After all, I'm only a little more than a month into my whole writing hobby, so I hope everyone will cut me some slack.

That being said, I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

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Chapter 3: Broken Hero

Zelos awoke from his mid-morning nap to the sound of children playing outside. After his exhausting hike up that snowy hill with Colette in the early hours of that morning, he was ready to go back to sleep and hopefully regain some of his energy. He was used to being cooped up inside during most days, but today felt different with him. Starting with the uphill hike, he felt like being active and had plans to take another walk around the village; nothing too tough.

Of course, with this activity would come pain… lots of it. All he was managing to do was keep his muscles from completely deteriorating. It didn't help him much with coping with the pain he always felt in his legs. Day by day, he was slowly accepting the fact that his legs may never get better. Sure, the pain may lessen a bit over the years, but he wondered by just how much.

All of that being said, he knew he had to find someway to cope with the pain while remaining active. Zelos had tried several concoctions of herbs that Colette and her father, Frank had gathered that were known for their curative properties. However, these proved to be of little helped. Magic was no good either. He had tried on a few occasions to develop his own slow-release First-Aid spell that was meant to, not so much cure the legs, but perhaps just numb the pain for a time. This was only mildly successful, however, as using a healing spell in that fashion required a fair amount of concentration and it quickly tired him out. He had to figure out something else.

He sat up in bed and slowly swung his body around, allowing his legs to legs to dangle shortly above the cold floor. He was still tired, but thought that he should get up anyway. If nothing else, he wanted to see what Colette was up to and perhaps chat with her. He gazed out of his window and saw that Colette was rather close by. She was watching the children play some sort of ball game and seemed to be having a good time. He smiled when he saw her like this.

"Such a simple life. I wonder…" He slowly stood up and got of bed, wincing in pain as he did so. He sat in a nearby chair and proceeded to dress himself, making sure to bundle up as he did so. Once satisfied that he was dressed warmly enough, he stood once more and grabbed for his crutches. "Easy does it," he said to himself as he made his way out of the room, slowly but surely.

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Colette laughed as she watched the children play a game similar to Four-square. The thin sheet of snow on the ground made the far more interesting to play, as the packed snow made it hard to properly bounce the ball. On the other hand, the snow acted as a wonderful cushion should they decide to dive for the ball at any point of the game. After the current set was finished, all of the children turned to her.

"Miss Colette! Will you play a game with us! Please?!" they asked, pleadingly.

Colette giggled when she was asked this. "Hehe. I'd love to! What rules are we-… oh! Hello Zelos!" She waved to the fallen Chosen as he slowly made his way around the corner of the house.

The children quickly turned in Zelos' direction as he inched closer and closer to them. He tried to flash a weak smile at them, but it seemed to have no effect. They immediately grew angry with his mere presence and actively showed it. The child with the ball, a small boy who could have been no older than seven, threw said ball at Zelos, nailing him in the right kneecap. The impact dealt an insane amount of pain to that leg and Zelos immediately fell to the ground, unable to stop himself from succumbing to the blow. Colette gasped as she brought her hands to her mouth, covering it.

"Stay away from Colette, you jerk!" the boy yelled. "You tried to hurt her! You're a bad man!"

The other three children began yelling similar things at him and began moving towards him, looking as if they were going to start hitting him while he was down. Colette had to interject and stop them.

"Children! Please, stop! He's not a bad person!" she cried.

They all turned to Colette with confused looks on their faces. "But Miss Colette," a little girl startled, "he tried to hurt you and our other friends! He's mean!"

Colette put her hands together as if in prayer. "Please, don't say that. Zelos is a good person. You just don't know it." At this point, she had begun to cry.

The children saw this and immediately rushed to her side. "Miss Colette! Are you ok?" another little boy asked. "Did we make you sad? We're sorry."

Colette smiled weakly at them and kneeled down. She motioned for them to come to her and they did so. She held them close to her and whispered something to them that Zelos couldn't make out. He didn't move an inch as he watched the whole event transpire, pain shooting through his system as he did so. He noticed one of the children glaring back at him as Colette continued to speak to them. After another moment, all of the children stared at him for a moment and ran off.

Colette walked over to Zelos and kneeled down once more. "Zelos, I am so sorry about that. Please forgive them. They were-"

He cut her off. "No… no, it's ok. I know they were just trying to protect you from me. I can't say that I blame them." He looked back at the fleeing children. "You're so well loved here. It's amazing."

"Zelos…" Colette said as she began to help Zelos up. Once up, they stared at each other for a moment until Colette broke the silence. "Um, I thought you were still in bed. Aren't you tired?"

He shook his head. He was lying, of course, but she didn't need to know that. "Nah, I'm ok. Legs hurt, but that's nothing new. I just… wanted to come out and see you."

She smiled sweetly at him. Every time he saw her like this, Zelos could feel his heart melt. "You wanted to see me? Hehe. Did you want to talk or…?"

He shrugged his good shoulder. "Sorta. I was thinking about going for a short walk. You know, just around the village. I wanted to ask if you to come with me. Interested?  
She nodded twice. She always liked talking walks by herself, but she liked them even better when she had someone to talk with. "Sure! Sounds like fun! You'd better eat some lunch though. You'll need some energy. If you want to go ahead and head inside, I'll join you in just a minute. Is that ok?"

He nodded back to her. He was happy that she agreed to go on a walk with him. He had grown quite attached to her lately and welcomed any opportunity to talk to her. "Sounds good. I was gettin' kinda hungry anyway. I'll be waiting inside." He flashed a smile at her, turned around, and made his way back inside.

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Back in his room, Zelos flopped onto his bed, grabbing the knee that was hit with his good hand as he did so. The pain was almost unbearable. It took everything he had inside of him to keep from yelling while he was talking to Colette. He was breathing deeply in an attempt to calm down not only his pain but himself as well. Colette would be back inside in a few minutes and he didn't want her to see him like this.

He sat back up. Taking the crutch that had fallen on the bed with him, he swapped it out for the walking stick that was under his bed. Now that Colette knew where it was, it was pointless to hide it, but it was the spot he was used to keeping it at. He stood back up with great difficulty and closed his eyes. He had to ready himself for any pain that was going to come his way.

"Ah! A monster! Run away!" screamed a voice from outside.

Zelos' eyes shot wide open and he looked outside to see several people running away from what looked like a rather large ogre. As it walked along, it kept swinging its massive club at nothing in particular, smashing several things along the way and seemingly having a good time of doing so. He saw the same children that had been playing ball outside of his window earlier run around a corner which the ogre was near and tried to run away from it. The ogre noticed them and immediately took off after them.

"Oh crap," Zelos said to himself as he witnessed the whole ordeal. Once the children passed the house just across from his window, Colette popped in between the children and the ogre. She stood defiantly in its path.

"Colette?! No, you don't have a weapon! Get out of there!" he cried out in vain. The window was closed and she was unable to hear him, however. Even if she could, it was doubtful that she would comply. To the people of Iselia, she was a hero, and she felt that it was her duty to defend the village no matter what.

The ogre took notice of her and smiled a toothy grin. It moved in closer to her, ready to strike her at a moment's notice. Zelos spotted Frank at the other end of the street with one of Colette's chakram in his hand.

"Colette! Catch!" he yelled as he let the chakram fly. Colette moved to catch it, but it was in vain for the ogre managed to figure out what was going on. He wheeled around and swung his club at the chakram, sending it flying away. A look of fear washed over Colette's face. She slowly began backed away when the ogre turned back to her. 

Zelos couldn't believe what he was seeing. Even in the face of such an opponent with no weapon to defend herself with, she refused to flat-out run away. He turned around to face the opposite wall of his room. He had to do something. He wasn't sure what could be done, but he had to try anyway. He quickly hobbled over to where his old Ether Blade and pieces of armor were hanging. He reached for the sword and realized he was still holding the walking stick. He was immediately reminded of what he had become.

_"Haha! You stupid Chosen! What do you hope to do, hmm?"_

A defiant look crossed Zelos' features as he tossed aside the stick. He's have to walk without it… somehow. In his state, there's now ay he could wear any sort of armor minus his shield, but in order to use even that, he'd have to wear it on the same arm that he uses his sword with. This is what he went with. He had no choice, after all. If he was going to fight this thing, he would need some form of protection.

His right arm now decked out with both a shield strapped to his forearm and his Ether Blade in hand, he proceeded to walk out of the room. Unfortunately, without the stick or his crutch, he didn't get very far before he fell flat on his face. He pounded his fist in frustration and in pain.

"Damnit! I have to help Colette!" he cried out. "But I can't even walk! How am I supposed to… to…" An idea hit him like a ton of bricks.

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Colette brought out her angelic wings, realizing that her only chance to win would be to use magic. She glided backwards, hoping to put some distance between her and the ogre. She closed her eyes and began to chant. The ogre rushed her and picked up a knocked over barrel as it did so. After a big wind-up, it threw the barrel at Colette.

"Colette! Look out!" cried one of the children.

Colette opened her eyes and dodged in time to keep herself from harm. However, this interrupted her chant and she would have to start from the beginning. She proceeded to glide away again but this time, she tripped over a large crate that had been knocked over by the impact of the barrel that had missed her. Given her natural clumsiness, it wasn't too hard to understand how a gliding angel could trip over an object on the ground.

The ogre edged closer to her, ready to deliver the killing blow. She turned back over to face the ogre and immense fear washed over her. All the townspeople who were watching the fight from afar could do is stare in horror. It raised its club, ready to kill Colette.

The ogre roared in pain as it stumbled past Colette. Looking back, she saw three fairly large burn marks on its back. The townspeople gasped in surprise when they saw who the attack had come from. Colette turned to the source of their attention.

Zelos stood with an extended and steaming hand. "Stay away from her, fiend!" he said with resolve. Zelos had found a way to walk. His golden wings shone brightly in the winter sun as he walked with little difficulty over to where the ogre and Colette were. Yes, he was walking, not gliding as Colette was before. Figuring that gliding would take a large amount of stamina, stamina which he did not have, he went with the next best thing: he was simply using the wings to help keep him light on his feet, thus taking a large amount of strain off of his legs.

"Zelos!" yelled Colette. "How are you-"

Zelos waved his arm at her. "No time for that! Get all of the townspeople to safety! Quickly!"

Colette wanted to protest but didn't. She nodded to Zelos, rose to her feet, and ran to the closest spectators. "Zelos! Please be careful!" she yelled as she began hurrying the townsfolk along.

The ogre turned to face the defiant Zelos, a look of pure rage crossing his features as it did so. "Grah!" it yelled as it rushed Zelos.

The broken hero grinned and motioned towards himself with his blade. "Come on! I can still fight!"

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"Is everyone ok?" Colette asked the gathered townsfolk.

Not quite in unison, everyone something to the effect of "yes", "yep", or "uh huh".

One of the men in the small crowd waved his arms in air, managing to get everyone's attention. "Everyone! This is our chance! While that heathen Zelos distracts the beast, we'll take up arms ourselves! We'll wait until Zelos is disposed of, we'll take down the monster ourselves! Two birds with one stone!" Much to Colette's horror, many of the townsfolk agreed with this idea.

"Stop it! How could you say something like that?" Colette asked pleadingly. "That man is out there risking his life for us! If it wasn't for him, I would be dead by now and the monster might've killed more of us!"

A woman spoke up. "But Miss Colette, he's traitor! We know what he did to you in the Tower of Salvation! We didn't want to say anything before, but we have been totally against his staying here from the very beginning!"

Colette clasped her hands over her heart as tears came to her eyes. "Y-you should all be ashamed! You don't understand him! He was just scared! That's… that's…"

Colette fell to her knees and began to sob. She had never known how the townsfolk felt about her bringing Zelos into her home. She knew that they were just looking out for her well being, but it still didn't make what they were saying right.

The children from earlier saw her begin to cry and, as before, ran to her side. The hugged her and looked back at the crowd. "You jerks! You made Miss Colette cry!"

Another man spoke up. "We didn't mean to do that to her, but that Zelos is bad news. We-"

The little girl of the group interrupted the man. "That doesn't matter! Miss Colette said he was a good person! So… he is!"

The first boy spoke again. We didn't like him either, but we were wrong. We tried to hurt him earlier, and that was wrong too."

The crowd was silent. Not only was Colette speaking in defense of this man, but the children were as well. What could they say now? Were they wrong?

Colette stood back up, her tears still fresh on her soft face. "I'm going to go help him. I don't care what anyone says. He's a good person… we've all seen that today." With that, she brought her wings back out and glided away. The children followed shortly after her.

Everyone in the crowd looked at each other. Frank stepped forward and said, "Whether or not we're wrong doesn't matter right now. We have to help Colette and… Zelos. He IS fighting for us." He then took off after Colette as well, with the rest of the crowd trailing behind him.

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Colette flew as quickly as possible to the previous battle site. She was so worried about Zelos that she couldn't stand it. "Zelos, please be ok… please."

She reached the area where the two had been fighting and saw no signs of movement. After frantically scanning the area for a moment, she saw both the ogre and Zelos on the ground. Neither of the two stirred.

"Zelos!" she cried as she rushed over to him. She kneeled down next to him and began to shake him. "Zelos! Please wake up! Please!"

A couple of Iselian peasants had grabbed pitchforks along the way and approached the fallen ogre with caution. It was covered with multiple slash and stab wounds, along with a few burn marks here and there. They poked it a few times and it didn't stir. Finally, one of them plunged their pitchfork deep into the ogre's chest. Again, it didn't stir. It was safe to say that it was dead. Zelos had defeated the ogre… but at what cost?

Frank kneeled down next to his daughter, not knowing what to do. He put his hand on her shoulder as she held the battered and bloodied Zelos close to her.

"Zelos… please… wake up…"

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Wow! My longest chapter for any story ever! Whew. Hope it was good! The next chapter will be the last along with the songfic I have prepared as a fifth chapter. It'll kinda be like the ending credits to an anime. You know, where they show clips of the show while some cool song plays in the background. The only question now is… what will the 4th chapter contain? A funeral for Zelos, or perhaps a "Happily Ever After" type scene for him? All will be answered soon enough. Please leave some reviews! I worked REALLY hard on this chapter, and I'm quite proud of it. Last chapter and ending songfic coming soon!


	4. Snowlight

A/N: The final chapter of the Zelos/Colette side-story is now at hand. Will Zelos live through his massive trauma and live a happy life with Colette, or has Zelos met a premature end?

I've decided to not go with an ending songfic as I had previously planned, due to the shortness of this story. I'll reserve that for the end of "Unconditional Love". I believe it deserves it more. 'sides, I couldn't think of a good (enough) song to go with this story. Hope no one's disappointed.

Finally, after this, it's back to writing my 2 main stories. I've learned my lesson XX

Anyway, enjoy! Please leave some reviews! Despite the fact that the story will be over now, any reviews I get know would greatly appreciated for they will help me with any future stories I write.

Oh, and for those of you keeping track of time, the first part of this chapter will take place about 9 days before Lloyd and company face Abyssion in "Unconditional Love", and the second part takes place about 2 days before said event. Why the timeline? Well, you'll see later in "Unconditional Love".

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Chapter 4: Snowlight

Colette paced around in the living room of her house as she awaited word from the doctor who was performing the examination on Zelos in his bedroom. She was beginning to fear the worst, that being that he wasn't going to make it after the beating he took or something else along those lines.

She shook her head in frustration. "Ugh! Stop thinking like that, Colette!" she kept telling herself, but to no avail. She continued pacing and wondering how Zelos was doing. Finally, she felt that she could take it no longer and hurried toward the door leading to Zelos' room. Before Frank could stand up and protest, the door opened on its own and out stepped the doctor. He finished closing up his bag and adjusted his glasses.

Colette gently grabbed the doctor's coat and shook it lightly. "Doctor! How is Zelos?! Is he… is he…"

The doctor put his hand on Colette's shoulder. The look in her eyes was heartbreaking but he couldn't change the news just to fix that look. He took a deep breath as he prepared to answer. "Miss Colette, Zelos is still alive."

A look of great relief and happiness came to Colette's face. "Really?! He's going to be ok?!"

The doctor looked over at Frank. They slowly nodded to each other. Frank had an idea as to what the doctor was talking about. Shaking his head, he put a hand up as if to say "wait."

"However," he started, "he hasn't woken up …yet. He's… he's in a coma Miss Colette."

Colette's happiness turned back to despair. Although she was relived to hear that he was still alive, she understood that being in a coma wasn't much better. "A coma? But I… is he going to wake up?"

The doctor slid off his glasses and put them into the breast pocket of his white shirt. "It's hard to say, really. I can't get make an accurate evaluation of the condition of his body, due to the presence of several internal injuries. Theoretically, he could wake up at any moment and, well… go back to being Zelos. However…" He didn't say another word and instead looked downward.

Colette tugged on the doctor's shirt, unsure of how to assess the situation. "However what, doctor? Please tell me."

Frank knew now for sure about what the doctor was going to say. Upon realizing this, he moved closer to his daughter and put his arm around her in a half-embrace. "Colette…"

The doctor sighed and looked back up at her. "Miss Colette, my educated opinion is that he is more likely to… die while in his coma. It could happen at any time. Months, weeks, days… hours from now. It's hard to say, either way."

The tears began to flow freely down Colette's face as she buried her head into her father's shoulder. The doctor put his glasses back on and looked away, unable to bear the sight of the weeping girl. "I am so sorry Miss Colette."

She looked up from the safety of her father's shoulder, her face red and wet from sobbing. Her soft, blue eyes showed so much pain that anyone who bore witness to them shared her pain. She sniffled once and spoke again. "I-is it ok if I see him?"

The doctor nodded slowly. "Of course."

Without saying anything, she threw open the door to Zelos' room and ran inside. The doctor picked up his bag once more and made his way toward the door. "I'm sorry Frank. There was nothing I could do."

Frank knew this already. So did most of the rest of the town. Everyone saw what shape Zelos was in after his fight against the ogre. He was already in bad enough shape, but after the beating he took… "I know doc. Thanks anyway. I'm sure Colette appreciates it."

The doctor nodded back and made his way out the door. Frank turned around to join his daughter in Zelos' room, where he found her kneeling next to his bed and holding his hand. He sat down in a chair nearby and said nothing.

Colette leaned close to Zelos' face and planted a tear-soaked kiss on his cheek. "Zelos… no matter how long it takes, I won't ever leave your side. You're my hero… I won't let you die!"

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One Week Later…

Frank peeked inside of Zelos' dimly lit room to see a very lovely Colette holding Zelos' hand. She was wearing the same exact dress that she wore to the Meltokio ball when she was still adventuring with Zelos and her other friends. Just like before as well, he hair had been trimmed a bit, leaving it shorter than normal, and tying it back into a single braid. Frank was both heartened and saddened by what he saw. He was indeed proud of her devotion to a single man but wished so much that Zelos could see her like this. He walked in quietly and lit another candle in the room. "Colette, honey, aren't you going to the Snowlight Festival?"

His daughter turned to him and smiled. "I don't think so father. If I did, Zelos wouldn't have anyone to spend it with."

Frank half-smiled. What she was doing was quite commendable, but she did need to have some fun at some point or another. "I see. So that's why you're all dressed up, huh?"

She nodded. "Yup. We're going to enjoy the festival together." No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't maintain her smile. She looked back down at Zelos and rubbed his hand. "If he passes, I… I don't want to be away when it happens. I promised him that I'd always be there." She turned back to her father with tears beginning to form in her eyes. "I don't want to break that promise."

Frank leaned forward to hug his daughter and she leaned into his shoulder and sobbed. He just didn't know what to do. Zelos wasn't showing any signs of improvement and everyone was under the impression that he could die at any day… any hour… any minute. Hope was burning dimly and grew more so as many of the townsfolk, who had come to respect Zelos, gave up on him.

"I understand honey," he said softly to her. "But maybe you should go out and have some fun with the townsfolk. Even if it's only for an hour, I'm sure they would be thrilled to see you. I can stay here and look after Zelos. I promise that nothing will happen to him."

She sniffled once and looked up at her loving father. "Promise? Just for an hour?"

He nodded. "Promise."

She smiled weakly and hugged him once more. She took Zelos' arm and placed it across his chest. She stood up and walked towards the entrance of the room. She turned back to her father, the light from the candle creating a beautiful shine in her teary eyes as she did so. "Thank you, father." She then turned to Zelos. "I'll be back soon, Zelos." She then left Frank's field of view and walked out the front door."

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It was just as Frank had said. Seemingly everyone at the festival in the town square felt that they had to hug Colette and give their condolences to her as she walked past them. What came as a surprise to her though was when everyone wished for Zelos' quick and full recovery. This warmed her heart to no end. She was glad to see that everyone was finally coming to accept him. The only thing that saddened her now was the fact that Zelos wasn't around to bear witness to the praise he was receiving from the once doubtful townsfolk.

Frank was also right about Colette's need for a good time. She had an absolute blast at the festival and took part in several of the contests, including a ring toss and dance contest which she both won. She won the dance contest by performing the same silly dance she had done with Lloyd and Genis in Meltokio with some of the children of Iselia. The dance was meant for children, but child-like innocence refused to ever let her mature like most other women did.

The snow began to fall once more as her hour of promised time at the festival was nearly over and created quite a beautiful scene. The small Iselian orchestra began to strike up a very slow but pretty song as people all around began to choose dancing partners. A few of the young men in the village had asked for Colette's hand in a dance but she politely declined all of their invitations, saying that she had to get back home and look over Zelos. She was prepared to leave when one of the children came rushing through the dance floor in Colette's direction.

"Miss Colette! Miss Colette!" he cried as he ran towards her. Once he reached her, he knelt over in an attempt to catch his breath. The rushing boy had caught everyone's attention and they all looked toward him and Colette.

She knelt down and tried to calm down the child. "Calm down. What's wrong?" she asked with a soft tone of voice.

The boy looked up with a hard-to-read expression on his face. Still huffing and puffing, he said, "M-Miss Colette! It's Z-Zelos! He-"

A loud gasp was heard from a woman in the far back of the crowd. Everyone looked in their direction, trying to determine the source of her shock. Colette stood back up and tried to see what all the commotion was about.

All that could be seen were the people in the back as they parted way for something. She looked down as the child began tugging on her hand excitedly without saying a word. "What's wrong?"

The child pointed in the same direction as the parting crowd. "Lookie!"

She looked back towards the crowd and almost feinted when she saw finally saw the source of the commotion. From the crowd emerged the one person she never expected to see there: Zelos. His wings were shining brightly in twilight-lit night as he limped towards Colette. None of his bandages were showing, for they were covered up by the fine suit he was wearing… the same one he wore when he danced with Colette in Meltokio. His fine, red hair was braided in the back and, along with the suit, gave him a very sophisticated look. He smiled weakly as he approached Colette.

"Z-Zelos!" Colette exclaimed. "You're alive?!"

He gave her a slight bow. He didn't go far though, for he was still feeling immense amounts of pain in his back. "Lady Colette, may I be so honored as to have this dance?"

She didn't know how he was able to pull through against such incredible odds, but… right now, it just didn't matter. Her ocean-blue eyes shone like crystals as they watered up and she said, "Yes. Yes of course!"

The two joined hands, minus Zelos' crippled one, as an excited crowd clapped ecstatically for them. The music was struck up once more and everyone resumed their own dancing, always keeping at least one eye on the unlikely couple of Zelos and Colette. Their own dancing was particularly slow-paced and this was considering that it was meant to be a slow-dance in the first place. However, given the condition of Zelos', it was a miracle that he was even able to dance. None of this seemed to bother the two, as they seemed to be lost in their own little world.

Colette rested her head on Zelos' chest. "Zelos," she said softly. "No one thought you were going to make it. It's truly a miracle."

Zelos coughed and chuckled. "Heh. I-It'd be more of a miracle if I didn't hurt so badly."

Colette looked up at him and smiled. "Zelos, you know you should be resting. We can go home and-"

Zelos put a gloved finger on her lips and smiled. "Later. I want to enjoy this moment with you. After this, I may not be up for a while. I wanna savor this dance with you while it lasts. Plus, I… ah… wanted to tell you something."

She closed her eyes. "Yes Zelos?"

Zelos took a very deep breath of the crisp winter and flapped his spectral wings a few times. "Colette, you've been far too kind to me and well… I've really grown quite fond of you Very fond, in fact. What I'm trying to say is… ah…" The pain in his back was beginning to flare up worse than before, but he was doing his best to ignore it. There would be time for it to rest later, after-all.

She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Zelos?"

There was no turning back now. "Colette, I lo-… I love you Colette."

Her eyes had never been opened so widely in her life. She literally jumped for joy as she held on to his good arm. "Really Zelos?! Really?!"

He had done it. He had truly made her happy. He wished he could've done more, but, in his heart, he knew that she couldn't possibly be happier. The look on her face displayed this quite clearly.

"Zelos!" she exclaimed, causing everyone to turn their full attention to them. "I-I love you too! I'm so happy!" She fully embraced him and he could feel sharp tinges of pain where she was holding him. He didn't care though. He was just too happy to care. He held her with his good arm as the crowd cheered again.

As the snow began to fall more heavily on the village of Iselia, Colette's pink wings came into existence and shone brightly in the twilight. The two pulled back and gazed into each other's eyes, enjoying the warmth that each other's exuded. Finally, the two angels drew closer together to share their first, but certainly not last, kiss.

From afar, Frank smiled. "What a fine night for a miracle."

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And… done! Hope everyone got the ending they were hoping for! Despite the fact that the story is now over, I would appreciate if everyone left reviews anyway. They'll help me in the future, and plus I just want some reflections and stuff. Thank you for using your valuable time to read this story, and I hope you all enjoy the rest of "Unconditional Love!"


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